Theme Of Conformity In Fahrenheit 451

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Most people have a basic understanding of obedience; however, many may fail to see the application and the impact of it in their own lives and in our society. Submission into conformity discourages the type of independence that is valued in our supposedly free-thinking world. Censorship is one of the major themes in Fahrenheit 451, and its impact is illustrated through submission in appearance, behavior and thought. This invites us to draw clear relationships between Ray Bradbury‘s novel and our current society. The association between appearance and social acceptance is already apparent in our lives. In order to achieve societal norm we wish to look and act like our peers, and as a result censorship in appearance has become a common example of submission today. In Fahrenheit 451, Montag realizes that a major part of being socially accepted as a fireman is to conform through appearance. Montag observes this fact while there are countless examples of conformity through appearance in our society. The belief that physical beauty is more valuable than intelligence is a very common habit throughout the world especially in…show more content…
However, in Fahrenheit 451 Beatty describes conformity as a positive aspect of society – he argues that conformity in behavior prevents violence and jealousy by restricting the gifted and talented people from their ability to excel, which is good in a way because then the others won‘t feel bad. However, the real problem in the situation Beatty describes is not the exceptionally bright child (when he is trying to show Montag the uselessness of books) but the group of people of those who submit to it. Unfortunately, this very situation occurs repeatedly in our society today. People who choose not to conform may be persecuted by the groups of people who submit into censorship, and through that act of persecution the people reinforce conformity of
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